Cement applicator



April 1953 F. SLUSHER 2,636,214

CEMENT APPLICATOR Filed Jan. 10, 0

, INVENTOR. FRANK 5L USHER ATTO NEY Patented Apr. 28, 1953 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CEMENT APPLICATOR Frank Slusher, Carpinteria, Calif. Application January 10, 1950, S erial No. 137,696

I My invention relates to cement applicators and has particular reference to a novel type of manucommonly employed as the finish wall for the.

interiors of residences and oflice buildings. The joint between the boards must be covered in a suitable manner so that the room walls will have the appearance of finished plaster. One technique commonly employed in covering these joints is the application of a thin strip of cement to adjacent edges of the plaster board sheets. A strip of perforated, high strength paper is next applied over the joint and is adhered in place by the cement strip. This paper strip reinforces the joint and prevents the formation of cracks which frequently appear when the joint is covered with plaster or cement alone. If desired a finish coating of plaster or cement may be troweled over the-paper strip'and will adhere to the cement first applied because of the perforations in the paper reinforcing strip. i

The technique just outlined has proved to be 2 Claims. (01. 18-3.5)

so satisfactory; that several manufacturers of plaster board or wall board have provided a surface recess at each edge of the board so that the abutting edges are thinner than the main body of the board. Thus when two boards are abutted and nailed'to studs or other vertical structural elements, the two adjoining boards form a recess in the wall surface that is about 2" wide and recessed about A" from the surface of the body of the board. The joint between the boards will The applicator may be designed to deliver a cement strip of fixed width inasmuch as the wall board recesses are themselves fixed in width. The applicator is adjustable, however, to obtain varying depths ofcement strip accordi ng to the desires of the operator,- or the varying techniques in using the applicator, and the diifering requirements for different styles of finishing operations on the joints.

Generally, my invention may be embodied in a piston-cylinder type of extrusion gun that may be grasped in one hand and the piston actuated with the other hand of the operator. The outer end cap is preferably removable for loading a fresh'charge of cementinto the cylinder and may have the outlet nozzle formed thereon; The nozzle outlet opening may have a straight outline, or substitute caps may have nozzles with concave or convex right angle outlines to apply cement to outside and inside corners respectively. The nozzle in each case maybe provided with an adjustable depth regulator to determine the depth of the cement strip. This regulator may include spacing members that project beyonclthe end of the nozzleto ride on the wall board, eitherin; the board recess or onthe main surface, and

in this way the depth of Cement strip is controlled.

While my device may be used by professional plasterers or construction workmen, it is designed for the amateur builder. My. applicator asoutlined gives the amateur an inexpensive and re-. liable tool requiring little or noskill in its'use and resulting in a cementing strip of acceptable uniformity. I 1 'It is, therefore, a general object of my invention to provide an inexpensive and reliable cement strip applicator especially useful for amateur builders.

' Another object of myinvention is towp l'ovide a "cement applicator having an adjustable depthj regulator for the cement dispensed thereby,

Still another. object of my invention is to pro-l vide a cement applicator for wall boards and the like that can deposit afstrip of cement on either;v inside or outside corners. v Other Lobjectsand advantages of my invention. will be apparent in the'follo'wing description and claims considered. together with the drawing forming an integral part of this specification and in which: v

Fig. l is a sectional view through a presently preferred cylinder-piston type of applicator em-,. bodying'my invention;

Fig. 2 is an outline of an alternative type of manually actuated mechanism for the applicator:

of Fig. 1 I v Fig. 3 is a plan view of the end cap and nozzle" of Figfil as viewed Fig. 1 r y Fig. 4 is a plan similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modification of the nozzle structure for applying a cement strip to an inside corner;

'Fig. 5 is a sectional view along theline V"-- -V of the end cap of Fig. 4', and 1 Fi 6 is a plan view or the nozzle portion oat along the line IIIIII -o f" 3 of still another modification of my invention for applying cement to an outside corner.

Referring to Fig. l, the applicator as a whole may be designated by the numeral l and may include a cylinder I I within which may reciprocate a piston I2. The piston may be secured to a piston rod I3 that passes through an apertured end cap I4 and terminates in a handle I6. An outer end cap l1 may be provided particularly in accordance with my invention and may have secured thereto a nozzle member I8. The cap may be secured to the cylinder II by engaging threads l9 and Illa.

While various materials may be employed from which the applicator I0 is made, I have found that an ordinary sheet metal construction is highly satisfactory. The barrel or cylinder II may be formed from sheet metal and secured together by an ordinary rolled joint as is customary in metal container construction. Also light weight sheet metal permits threads to be easilyand quickly rolled or otherwise pressed at either end so that the caps I1 and I4 may be quickly secured thereto. The piston I2 may be formed. of sheet metal with the usual flanged rubber face on the forward end thereof that will closely engage the side walls of the cylinder regardless of irregularities. The piston rod may be of cold rolled steel or other inexpensive material and may be welded, riveted, screwed or otherwise secured to the piston.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 2 it will be noted that the outlet of the nozzle I8 may be generally rectangular in cross section and the outline thereof may be in the form of a greatly elongated rectangle 2I. In other words, the outlet tends to be aslit. The nozzle may have side walls, 22 that are generally parallel, but I have foundthat the top and bottom walls 23 and 24, respectively, should be tapered toward the outlet so as to eliminate as much as possible fluid flow friction at the inlet of the nozzle adjacent to the cap I1.

My nozzle construction is provided, in accordance with my invention, with a depth regulator 26 which may also be formed of sheet metal, if desired, and may have bent over edges 21 that engage the parallel side walls 22 to guide the regulator 26. The bent over side walls 21 may terminate in spacer members 28;that project outwardly-from the body of the regulator 26. These spacer members 28 engage the wall board or other surface upon which the applicator is used and project by a dimension d. This distance d between the ends of the spacer members 28 and the outlet 2| of the nozzle determines the depth of the cement strip which is extruded from the applicator as the piston is moved toward the nozzle and as the applicator is bodily moved along the surface.

It is an important feature: of my invention that my depth regulator 26 is adjustable to obtain any desired depth or thickness of cement strip. While various types of mechanisms may be employed; such as notches, nuts, lock pins, etc. I have found that a simple screw 29 passing through a slot SI and threaded into the outer surface 23 is adequate and satisfactory for maintaining the adjustment. If desired a washer 32 may be placed under the screw head to engage a greater area of the regulator 26.

Illustrate in Figs. 4 and is a modified form of my invention for use on inside corners to apply a cement strip thereto. When it is desired to apply such a strip, the cap l1 may be unthreaded from the barrel II (Fig. 1) and removed and the cap of Figs. 4 and 5 substituted for it. Thus an end cap 33 may have a nozzle structure 34 secured thereto as by soldering, welding, etc. which nozzle structure may include parallel side walls 36, a top flat wall 35 and a tapered end bottom wall 31. The nozzle may have an outlet 38'which has an outline of a right angle but the cross section of the outlet 38 will still be in the form of an elongated rectangle as described in connection with Fig. 1. If desired a support post 39 may interconnect the top flat wall 35 and the bottom wall 31.

' A regulator II may be provided to regulate the depth of the cement strip and may have downwardly bent side edges 42 to engage the side walls 36 of the nozzle and in addition may have a forwardly projecting spacer member 43 which may project past the edges of the outlet 38 by a distance D. The downwardly bent edges 42 of the regulator 4| may have forwardly projecting spacer members M that have their tips bent generally parallel with the adjacent edges of the right angular outlet 38. These tips project past the projection of the line of the outlet by the same distance D, so that the nozzle is accurately centered against the wall board or other surface at three points of contact. If desired, the same type of securing means for the regulator 4! may be employed; namely, a slot 46 through which may pass a screw 41 threaded into the top surface 35 and a washer 48 may be placed under the head of the screw 41.

Illustrated in Fig. 6 is a plan view of a modification of my invention for outside corners. A nozzle 56 may have the usual parallel side walls 5| engaged by the bent over edges 52 of a depth regulator 53 and the bent over edges may project forwardly to terminate in spacer members 54. The nozzle may have an outlet 56 having an out let of a right angle, but in this case the outline is concave rather than convex as in Fig. 4. The regulator 53 may have a center spacer member 51 to engage the corner of the wall board or other structure. Thus the nozzle 50 will have 3 points of contact on the wall board, the two spacer members 54 and the center spacer member 51. This insures accurate alignment and uniformity in the depth of the extruded cement strip.

Operation To prepare the applicator of Fig-1 for operation, the end cap I1 is manually unscrewed from the barrel ll. and the piston I2 withdrawn to the right. The cylinder is then filled withcement of a plastic consistency and preferably of a fairly thin consistency. The types of cement generally employed do not stiffen or set for several hours. The end cap is thereafter screwed in place and the operator may adjust the regulator 26 (Fig. 3) to the desired distance d. This adjustment is effected by applying a screw driver to the screw 29 loosening it and thereafter sliding the adjustor 26, shown in Fig. 3, up or down to the desired point. When the desired adjustment has been obtained, the screw 29 is then tightened pressing the adjustor 26 against the flat surface 23 of the nozzle i8 and looking it in place. The turned edges 21 prevent any twisting of the ad- J'ustor about the screw 29.

example, the joint between wall boards, and the 5 piston 12 is moved forward while at the same time the entire applicator is "bodily moved along the direction where the cement is desired. In most instances this direction will be vertical when wall board is employed.

The setting of the regulator 26 determines the thickness of the resulting cement strip, but it will be appreciated that a movement of the applicator that is more rapid than the equivalent movement of the piston will result in a thin strip, whereas a slower movement will result in a thick strip. Accordingly, each operator may have definite characteristics of application and various settings of the adjustor are, therefore, desirable according to individual requirements. In any event, the spacer members 28 will slide along the surface and space the nozzle therefrom so that a definite spacing of the outlet of the nozzle will be achieved.

If desired, the actuation of the piston l2 may I be achieved by any suitable mechanism and there is illustrated in Fig. 2 an actuating mechanism that is commonly employed for caulking guns, but in addition thereto a handle may be provided for the projecting stem of the piston rod. The operation of the mechanism of Figs. 4 and 5 is similar to that of Figs. 1 and 3 except that in the case of these two figures the cement strip cross section will be V-shaped and will be applied at the corners.

The operation of the device of the nozzle of Fig. 6 is likewise similar to that of Fig. 1 except that the cement strip will be applied to the outside corner.

While I have described presently preferred embodiments of my invention, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various modifications could be made therein without departing from the true spirit and scope of my invention. For example, it is not necessary that the nozzle be angular or rectangular in cross section inasmuch as the body of the nozzle could be of any cross section. The principal requirement is that the outlet be in the nature of a slit and while I have described this slit as generally in the shape of an elongated rectangle, it will be obvious that if the ends of the slit are curved the desired function is nevertheless accomplished. Nor is it absolutely necessary that the outline of the fiat surface applicator of Figs. 1 and 3 be straight since the tube outlet could be a compound curvature that would give the desired cement strip. Likewise the depth adjustor could be guided on a round surface provided that it had parallel edges to act as guiding surfaces.

While I have shown the nozzles as made up of separate sheet metal sections soldered or welded to the cap, it will also be appreciated by those skilled in the art that these nozzlescould be drawn from the body of the material of the cap. Various other suitable forming techniques could also be employed. The spacer members need not be shaped in any particular fashion and indeed could be in the shape of balls on the end if desired, or any other shape or construction to effect the spacing function.

For these and various other reasons I do not limit myself to the specific embodiments illustrated but claim all modifications as come within the true spirit and scope of my invention.

I claim:

1. An applicator for cement of fiowable consistency comprising a cylinder having a size adapting it to be conveniently manually grasped; a piston reciprocable in the cylinder; manually operable means for reciprocating the piston; a nozzle cap removably secured to one end of the cylinder; a nozzle formed on the cap and communicating with the interior of the cylinder and having opposite edges; and an adjustable regulator mounted on the nozzle and having a spacer member adjacent each edge to determine the thickness of the cement strip.

2. The combination of a nozzle and an applicator cap to which the nozzle is secured and which cap is apcrtured to permit flow into the nozzle, said nozzle comprising: a tube having at least one axially extending fiat outer surface and having an outlet of generally elongated rectangular cross section; a depth regulator body formed of sheet material slidable on the flat surface of the tube and having bent over edges externally of the short sides of the cross section and projecting axially from the body to form spacer members; and screw threaded means for securing the regulator to the tube to obtain a preselected depth.

FRANK SLUSHER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number 

